Scenes From The Drug War, Ctd

Balko looks at the reforms Columbia, Missouri Police Chief Ken Burton has agreed to since video of his department's SWAT team in action went viral:

Unfortunately the changeswhile small steps in the right
directionstill miss the point. Burton says his department will no
longer conduct SWAT raids at night. They won’t conduct raids in homes
where children are present. Suspects will be under constant
surveillance until the raid is carried out. And raids will be conducted
within a shorter period of time from when police get the initial tip
about a suspected drug dealer. But the Columbia Police Department will
still conduct volatile, violent, highly aggressive forced-entry raids
on people suspected of consensual, nonviolent drug crimes. That
is what’s wrong with the YouTube video. Changing the time of day of the
raid doesn’t change the wildly disproportionate use of force.

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